Jazz Festivals 2023: Behind the Scenes

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New Man in Charge at Markham

In the wake of its 25^thedition last summer, the Markham Jazz Festival announced the appointment of Ernesto Cervini as its new artistic director. No stranger to this event for having played there previously as a bandleader and sideman, the native Torontonian is also blessed with good business acumen, managing his artistic career and record label while promoting new releases of Canadian groups via his public relations company Orange Grove Publicity.

In a recent talk, Cervini recalled his Markham debut in 2003, fresh out of school and in an upstart band that snatched top honours in one of the event’s talent searches. As he got to work, he had a good lay of the land, knowing its basic format and chief asset. “It is spread over a weekend in mid-August,” Cervini says,“with no ticketed concerts, because all shows are outdoors along the main street in Unionville, a half-hours drive from downtown Toronto,”

In contrast to the TD Downtown Festival, chock full of international names, Markham showcases mostly local talents, rounded out by a few out-of-town groups. All told, 24 shows are on tap, split between the Millenium Bandstand for the headliners, the Varley Gallery stage farther down the street, and the backyard garden of the McKay Centre.

“It’s programmed in such a way that shows are spread out time-wise,” Cervini explains,“meaning that a half hour after one is underway, another begins at the other main stage. The garden stage, for its part, presents the music in a more intimate setting.”

This year’s opening act, on Aug. 18 at 6 p.m., presents American vocalist Catherine Russell in a quartet setting, one of two shows only that evening. Saturday, in contrast, is the big day with a dozen concerts running from noon to 11 p.m. Sunday finally starts at the same time and ends on a high note at 6 p.m. with the reprise of the tribute to Phil Nimmons premièred in Toronto six weeks previous (see cover article here). Cervini could not think of a better choice for a closer this year than that one, as much for its special nature as well as a personal connection to its dedicatee. “I played in the big band Phil directed at school,” he said, “and took his composition and improv classes in my final year at U of T. All were excellent.”

Among other names scheduled this year are the highly touted vocalist Laila Biali with the Brian Barlow Big Band, singing the music of Joni Mitchell; the Juno Award-winning group Avataar; the Noah Lemish Jazz Orchestra; Montreal’s Bantü Salsa; and drummer Anthony Fung, a Toronto native now residing in L.A.

A drummer by profession, Cervini embarks on this new venture as the event’s artistic director with hopes it’ll be a lasting one. “This job was not handed to me,” he says. “I went through a selection process in two rounds, so I view it as a real commitment. As I get along very well with the board, it only motivates me to pursue this task in the future.” Knowing the event as he does, he wants to work within its framework rather than setting a new agenda for it. Asked if, in future, he might perform in the festival, he doesn’t exclude that option, but didn’t want to do it this year, not wanting to give anyone the impression that he was using festival as a sounding board for himself or any of the artists he promotes. “As it is a small festival,” Cervini says, “I have to work within its means, so you have to be realistic and bear in mind that it has be both listener-friendly and artistically satisfying.”

TD Markham Jazz Festival, Aug. 18-20

Complete program online go to: www.markhamjazzfestival.com

Marciac’s Man in Montreal

Unlike his Markham counterpart, Maurin Auxémery was an insider at the Montreal jazz festival (FIJM) when he earned his promotion as event programmer. And he insists on the title ̒̓̔̔̒̕ʻprogrammer’, not ʽartistic director’, which in his mind was an honorary title bestowed on André Ménard, the event’s co-founder and main man in charge until his retirement fours year ago. What’s more, he sees himself as a team player working with others in charge of booking acts, not as a headman.

A year ago, the festival was turning a new leaf, the old guard making way for a new one. Yet Auxémery remained in the fold he had been part of since 2013. Well before his hiring, he had a good handle on the music, thanks to his father, a jazz aficionado—and, more importantly, living not too far from the town of Marciac in the south of France, home to a world-famous jazz festival and crucible for all the big jazz names, the most notable, Wynton Marsalis, having spent many summers there.

“He (Wynton) used to come to our house,”Auxémery says. “Even wrote music on our piano. I have kept in touch with him ever since.” In 2005, the year prior to his departure, Maurin was hired as a translator for the Marciac festival’s press office, after having put some time in as a volunteer.

On a whim, he took a leap over the Big Pond, landed in Montreal and liked it so much he set up shop. He reached out to the Montreal jazz festival, somewhat awkwardly by his own admission, after which he landed an assistant’s job with the Effendi record label, prelude to a time spent as an self-employed booking agent for international and local artists.

But the idea of working for the festival was still on his mind, his wish finally granted when he chanced on one of the programmers who remembered his offer and set up a job interview. The rest, as they say, is history. After last year’s run, Maurin is now in a position of putting his own stamp on the event. In 2022, he created two new indoor series at no charge, the shows drawing large and enthusiastic crowds. Next, he introduced local audiences to edgier music, as represented, among others, by the group Irreversible Entanglements. When asked who he is keen on for this year, he rattled off a number of names, including multi-instrumentalist and saxophonist Sam Gendel (June 30), flutist Naïssim Jelal (July 2), harpist Brandee Younger (July 2) and bassist Endea Owens (July 3).